Drought is widely recognized as a slow-creeping natural hazard, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

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Because of their long-term socioeconomic impacts, droughts are by far the most damaging of all natural disasters, the WMO says.

As horrifying as they can be, photographers around the world manage to find the beauty in their baked landscapes.

Droughts affect more people than any other kind of natural disaster because of their large scale and long duration, ABC reported. The decade saw droughts across the world, with some of the longest and most severe in Australia (2002 and other years), East Africa (2004 and 2005, resulting in widespread loss of life) and the Amazon basin (2010).

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